Bermuda has a huge amount of valuable infrastructure data but most of it is not being used to help the island grow, according to geospatial expert Kevin Mayall.

Speaking at the Bermuda Infrastructure and Development Summit on Tuesday, Dr Mayall, principal consultant and managing director of Locus Ltd, said the island could unlock major opportunities by putting this data to work.

“Infrastructure data, in its broadest sense, is a valuable asset,” he said.

“It lets us be more strategic in our planning and optimise the use of existing infrastructure for new projects.”

Dr Mayall encouraged a wider view of what counts as infrastructure. It is not only roads and buildings, he said, but also digital, natural and social systems; everything from internet networks to coral reefs, which he called “marine infrastructure”.

Even social data, such as information from the census, could be a game changer. “There’s a trove of census variables that are available,” Dr Mayall said. “Often people don’t realise that there’s 250 census districts in Bermuda. It’s really quite granular and useful.”

But the problem, he explained, is access. Too much data is buried in outdated formats or lost on old file servers. “A beautifully descriptive data set has no value if it’s not used to make decisions,” he said.

Dr Mayall argued that organising this information into a central national system could help Bermuda prepare for the future. With the right set-up, he said, the island would be ready for major developments, like proposals for sea floor cables from Google, self-driving cars, offshore wind turbines or smart city technologies.

“If we get this right,” Dr Mayall said, “we’re laying the foundation for the adoption of new technologies.”